Least Favorite Exercise

I love working out, but I always have those days where I’d rather forget about hitting the gym and would like to sit down on the couch with a huge piece of chocolate cake and watch TV. However, I’ve taken pride in looking and feeling my best over the last year and I always seem to find motivation to keep heading to the gym. BUT, I still have exercises that I absolutely would love to forget about and NEVER do.

I strongly dislike running. I LOVE cardio, but I’d rather hit the elliptical for a good 30 minutes or go hiking rather than run 5 miles. Although, once I get into the habit, running isn’t so bad. The other exercise I hate doing the most is stretching my hamstrings. This exercise to me is a little extra painful.

Having cerebral palsy, I’ve always had extremely tight hamstrings, more than the average person. When I was younger and going through physical therapy 2 to 3 times a week, my therapist would put a mini marshmallow in the “cup” of my ankle. (I had to turn my ankle in and make the tiny indent in my ankle). When I was able to make the indent my therapist would put the marshmallow in the indent of my ankle and I had to lean forward to get the marshmallow, which gave me no choice, but to stretch my hamstrings. As much as the exercise hurt, there was no way I was going to turn down that marshmallow! Ah, I kind of miss those days. I wish I had that kind of reward now when I hit the gym. J

What’s your least favorite exercise?

Sarah Laursen

www.slaursen.blogspot.com

www.twitter.com/s_laursen

Where does your motivation come from?

I have days where I want to quit and give up on things just like everyone else. I get frustrated, down, and I can't seem to see the positive sometimes. When I have days like these, I look to my close friends to help me out. Other times I like to sit by myself and zone out to music that I can connect with for an hour.

What keeps me going and uplifts me goes beyond getting sound advice from my family and friends. I look to my friends and at their ambitions and goals. I look to my Fitness International Model family and to people who have left me inspired in some way or another.

What blows me away about my friends, the ones that have their goals laid out in front of them and are working towards them, is they always seem to find a way to be joyful about what it is they're doing. They take up side hobbies, painting, quilting, anything that makes life a little more uplifting for them. They find the humor in their jobs.

I look at my Fitness International Family and I have the opportunity and pleasure to watch everyone succeed in their fitness goals and working hard within the creative entertainment industry. I find joy in seeing their successes, because I know when I have success I receive the same kind of encouragement from them as well. I love that I can feel challenged in a healthy way by my FMI family. When I see everyone making huge strides, I want to do the same. I love that we can all support each other and network with one another. I'm blessed to have so many amazing people in my life near and far away.

Where does your motivation come from?

Who can you trust?

I wanted to share an experience I had today. For those of you looking for a career in the entertainment industry, I'm advising all of you to be careful with who you trust.

Normally, I don't like to refer to craigslist a lot for casting calls, but there are some great potential jobs out there, you just really have to pay attention. I found a casting call on craigslist the other day wanting models for a sports ad. The information wasn't specified so I asked for the person who posted the ad to please provide me with more information. When I received an email back, the casting was through Emerald City Talent in Washington. I had heard good and bad things in the past about this agency. I thought the worst thing I could do was check it out.

I went into the "casting" filled out a piece of paper with my name, contact info, stats, height etc. When I went into the "interview" they said they wanted to take some shots, but disregarded my mention about the ad when they asked how I had found out about them. Half way through the photo session of typical head shots, I knew this was a scam. The photographer took ten shots than told me to change into the next wardrobe change.

I let the photographer know I had a family emergency and had to leave. The photographer told me I needed to put down a deposit on the photos he just took. I couldn't believe it. I told him that money was tight and I couldn't make the payment. He told me I needed to make the deposit. I was getting nervous and paid the deposit to get out of the so called casting.

So the lesson is this, not only for those reading, but for myself once again: DO NOT EVER pay an agency to work with you. If you have to pay money to work with an agency than it not only is a waste of time, but a scam! Don't worry, I'll have a small update about the deposit issue on Monday.

Especially for women out there, please be care. When I first started modeling I took my mom with me to EVERY shoot I did. Not that the photographers I worked with weren't professional, but I wanted my body guard and makeup artist near by just in case. Now that I've gotten older, I'm more aware of my surroundings and have learned how to take care of myself.

Stay strong and happy :)

Success Tips: Nutrition

I always love when I find out facts about nutrition. Many of my friends and family have seen the physical transformation I've made since becoming a huge fitness enthusiast a little over a year ago. Choosing to become physically fit and has become one of the BEST decisions I've made for myself. I feel better about myself and I have more energy than I know what to do with some days.

However, getting a great body didn't happen overnight. I had to study a lot about the human body, learn new exercises, and retrain myself with my eating habits. I've never been the type of person to go for the sugar. When I was younger, if my mom offered me ice cream for dessert, I would often turn her down and ask for a piece of fruit. As I've gotten older, I'll admit I've developed more of sweet tooth, but after working as hard as I have to gain a healthy physique, reaching for the sweets doesn't happen often.

Exercise is important for staying healthy, but 90% of reaching for your fitness goals and staying in great shape comes from eating clean. It's a little fact I picked up from reading Oxygen Magazine.

Have a healthy day! :)

Inner Strength

I originally posted this blog on Clark Bartram's website 2 days ago. After all of the wonderful feedback and comments I was given, I wanted to share this blog on here as well. I'm truly blessed to have Clark in my life as a mentor.

For the last several months, I've dealt with a lot of heartache and frustration. I've kept myself busy with working out and eating healthy and trying to surround myself with the people that keep me positive and optimistic about life.

I moved to Seattle 4 months ago and love it here, but the frustration of trying to find a full time job to pay the bills is starting to get the best of me. I've had a lot of negativity that has come into my life over the last four months and it's recently become a daily challenge and struggle to continue to be optimistic about everything.

From the day I was born, I was told I wasn't going to live, walk, and possibly have mental challenges to deal with in life. My disability with cerebral palsy has been a blessing in disguise. Having cerebral palsy has made me continually grateful. I'm able to do things that physicians and physical therapists questioned and thought I wasn't going to be able to do. Walking is something I NEVER take for granted. I will admit there are times when I forget I have a disability, but the ongoing every day challenges aren't as noticeable now as they were when I was younger. I try and remind myself just how lucky I am and that life is valuable. When I look back on my childhood and remember all of the challenges I had to face at a young age, it puts things in perspective for me. The tough times I'm dealing with now are just that. They are challenges I have to face, but they will eventually fade.

It's the tough times where I really appreciate my family and close friends the most. My inner strength comes from within the little girl in me that constantly fought my way into this world. The child that chose to prove everyone wrong. I knew what I was capable of and continued to have strength and determination to keep going and not give up. I didn't listen when someone told me no.

My inner strength is what makes me who I am today. It was today, where I took the time to evaluate myself and see how truly blessed I am. Inner strength is beautiful and always makes you strong. Being strong = confidence. Have you found your inner strength today?

"May the pain you have known and the conflict you have experienced give you the strength to walk through life facing each new situation with courage and optimism." - Unknown

www.twitter.com/s_laursen

http://www.clarkbartram.com/blogs/sarah86

Ohhh the Holidays

With the holidays vastly approaching in just a few days I'm feeling the temptations starting to set in. The smell of turkey, mash potatoes and gravy, the cranberries and don't forget that delicious pumpkin pie. Not to mention, there's always another holiday feast following a few weeks later.

I'll admit I'm a sucker for the pumpkin pie, and the cranberries and well...EVERYTHING. There's days where I feel I'd make a good food critic because I love food that much. I'm not one for cooking much, although I am learning after becoming more and more involved with being in the fitness industry and learning you have no choice but to cook when you're trying to be fit and healthy.

It's always difficult for me not to want to sneak a taste here and there while my mom cooks away in the kitchen. I have a hard time not going for third or fourth helpings during the holidays. I say third and fourth helpings because lets face it, you HAVE to go for seconds.

The ongoing question sets in....how do I stay in shape with all of those goodies in my reach? Answer? All in moderation.

It's okay to splurge on the holidays, but make sure you take a regular proportion. If you want to go for that second piece of pie, no need to feel guilty. Just hit the gym for an extra ten minutes. You can keep the pounds off, just stick to your regular workout routine. Put in a few additional repetitions when you're working on your abs or an extra 5 minutes of cardio. Drink plenty of water and just add a few extra minutes to your workout if you feel you need to work off a few additional calories. We all know that pumpkin pie is calling your name repeatedly and we all know you'll be giving in a little later. :) I do.

Enjoy the holiday season and don't let the guilt set in. Stick to your regular workout routine and you'll be fine. Don't use the holidays as an excuse for the reason not to keep up with your workouts, but don't deprive yourself either. Just remember, it's all in MODERATION :)

Have a great start to the holidays everyone!

"An optimist is a person who starts a new diet on Thanksgiving Day." Irv Kupcine

It's okay to be YOU

When I first wanted to start getting into shape and really toning up my body, I wasn't thinking of getting into shape for the right reasons. I wanted to look like a Victoria's Secret model and look good in a bikini. I posted up a picture of one of the glamorous VS models up on my bathroom mirror hoping when I managed to achieve the "ideal" look, I'd feel more confident and better about myself, that is the worst idea.

After attempting to work out and eat right I was never satisfied with my body, because I didn't look like the model in the photo. I wasn't being realistic or true to myself. I have never been someone who has felt entirely comfortable with being in my own skin. I've always wanted to be anyone, but me. I used to want to be blond, or be 5'9" or taller so I could do runway work. After coming to the realization I just didn't have the genes for being 5'9," I started to accept myself.

I started to see the girl looking back at me in the mirror was who I truly was. I started to look at all the positive things about myself. I wasn't trying to be me, I was trying to live up to an impossible expectation of what I hoped I could look like or become. I understood that the only thing I could do was improve myself physically and not look at something that was unachievable for myself.

I started to research and learn how to eat right, how to eat in moderation, what I needed to cut back in my diet and what I needed to do physically for myself. I started to see better results of what I wanted and started becoming more and more comfortable within my own skin.

What my point is to this little story, is you have to accept you for who you are. If you're 5'4" and you have curves, OWN IT! If you want to get into shape and get active, do it for yourself, not to look like a model or for your boyfriend/girlfriend or who ever you feel you need to impress. If being in shape makes you feel good about yourself, then you know you're doing getting into shape for the right reasons. You have to be happy with yourself and your body. Everyone has a different body type, different hair, different bone structure etc. No one is truly ever the same and that in my opinion is awesome!

Forget about what you read or see on magazines. It took me a long time to stop comparing myself to celebrities that graced the covers of well known magazines, which is hard to do especially in your teen years. When I got a little older I had to remember those people are airbrushed and have a glam squad and a wardrobe team to make them look flawless.

Don't get me wrong, there are still days where I pick at my imperfections. I still feel my legs are too skinny or I have too many moles on my face, but those "flaws" make me who I am. Everyone has things they don't like about themselves, but odds are the only person that really notices those "flaws" is you. Embrace your imperfections.

“Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means that you've decided to look beyond the imperfections.” - Unknown